Operation Robson

Operation Robson (20 December 1944) was the first of a series of aerial operations, Operation Outflank, undertaken by the British Pacific Fleet (BPF) against the oil refineries of Japanese-occupied Sumatra during World War II. Admiral Chester Nimitz, Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas, proposed a strike on the refineries to Admiral Bruce Fraser, commander of the BPF, during a meeting in early December.

The primary target of Operation Robson was the refinery at Pangkalan Brandan. It had been fired by fleeing American and Dutch personnel during the invasion of the Dutch East Indies in 1942, but the Japanese had repaired it by the year's end. Refined product was piped from there to the port of Pangkalan Susu eight miles away and to the more distant deep-water port of Belawan Deli, the secondary target. Pangkalan Soesoe had tanks capable of holding thirty million gallons.

The naval order of battle for the operation consisted of two forces: Force 67, the strike force, and Force 69, the oiler group. The commander, Admiral Philip Vian, had his flag aboard the aircraft carrier HMS Indomitable. Also in Force 67 were the carrier Illustrious (carrying 854, 1830 and 1833 Naval Air Squadrons), the cruisers Argonaut, Black Prince and Newcastle, and the destroyers Kempenfelt, Wakeful, Wessex, Whirlwind and Wrangler. The oiler group comprised RFA Wave King and the destroyers Wager and Whelp.

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